--- a/Paper.thy Thu Jan 03 00:53:14 2013 +0000
+++ b/Paper.thy Fri Jan 04 13:10:30 2013 +0000
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
Isabelle/HOL, like in all HOL-based theorem provers, functions are
represented as inductively defined predicates too.
-The only satisfying way out in a theorem prover based on classical
+The only satisfying way out of this problem in a theorem prover based on classical
logic is to formalise a theory of computability. Norrish provided such
a formalisation for the HOL4 theorem prover. He choose the
$\lambda$-calculus as the starting point for his formalisation
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@
between the $\lambda$-calculus and recursive functions. Nevertheless he
concluded that it would be ``appealing'' to have formalisations for more
operational models of computations, such as Turing machines or register
-machines. One reason is that many proofs in the literature refer to
+machines. One reason is that many proofs in the literature use
them. He noted however that in the context of theorem provers
\cite[Page 310]{Norrish11}:
@@ -55,9 +55,24 @@
\noindent
In this paper we took on this daunting prospect and provide a formalisation
of Turing machines, as well as Abacus machines (a kind of register machine)
-and recursive functions. Theorem provers are at their best when the data-structures
+and recursive functions. To see the difficulties involved with this work one
+has to understantd that interactive theorem provers, like Isabelle/HOL, are at
+their best when the data-structures
at hand are ``structurally'' defined (like lists, natural numbers,
-regular expressions, etc). The reason why reasoning about Turing machines
+regular expressions, etc). For them, they come with a convenient reasoning
+infrastructure (for example induction principles, recursion combinators and so on).
+But this is not the case with Turing machines (and also register machines):
+underlying their definition is a set of states
+together with a transition function, both of which are not structurally defined.
+This means we have to implement our own reasoning infrastructure. This often
+leads to annoyingly lengthy and detailed formalisations. We noticed first
+the difference between both ``worlds'' when formalising the Myhill-Nerode
+theorem ??? where regular expressions fared much better than automata.
+However, with Turing machines there seems to be no alternative, because they
+feature frequently in proofs. We will analyse one case, Wang tilings, at the end
+of the paper, which uses also the notion of a Universal Turing Machine.
+
+The reason why reasoning about Turing machines
is challenging is because they are essentially ...
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